Top 10 Tech Trends of 2014

First Laptops Launch with USB Power Delivery

Because most smartphones use the same microUSB cables for charging, it’s easy to borrow a wire from a friend, dig one out of a drawer or buy a replacement at the corner store. However, if you lose your laptop’s AC adapter, you’ll have a much harder time finding a replacement, because each brand has its own proprietary connector.

Enter USB Power Delivery, a new standard that will allow such high-wattage gadgets as laptops and large tablets to get both power and data over a single USB connection. At CES 2013, we saw a demo laptop getting power in and sending HD video out over USB. In 2014, we expect to see the first shipping products.

The official Geeks Geek, as his weekly column is titled, Avram Piltch has guided the editorial and production of Laptopmag.com since 2007. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram programmed several of LAPTOP's real-world benchmarks, including the LAPTOP Battery Test. He holds a master’s degree in English from NYU.